


Spoilers

by Moirae (TigerDragon), TiaNadiezja



Series: The Doctor and the Constant [2]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-29
Updated: 2011-08-28
Packaged: 2017-10-23 04:59:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/246508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigerDragon/pseuds/Moirae, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiaNadiezja/pseuds/TiaNadiezja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time, paradoxes and accommodations.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously, this fic predates "A Good Man Goes to War" and most of what we now know about River Song. The result is a pretty severe canon divergence, on top of the one that we created in Running.
> 
> Also, for exactly what Amy Pond is and how she is who she is in this story, you'll have to wait a bit. We have a fic about that, but it's not finished.
> 
> Obviously, we don't own Doctor Who. Enjoy!

“That... was invigorating.”  River Song pressed her arm to her forehead, gasping for breath as she wiped the sweat away, offering a wide smile to the older, shorter woman in the dark coat and hat who leaned against the wall next to her.

“I  _did_ tell you not to run off, didn’t I?  I always tell people not to run off, and they never listen.”  The Doctor smiled back, fighting to hide the hint of pain that had always tried to sneak its way onto her face when River was about.   _ So young, and I know where she’s going.  Twenty years for her, thirty at most, then the Vashta Narada and the little girl in the library.  Thirty years, and she’s falling in love with me when I’ve lived a thousand.  All she has left is an eyeblink, an instant in time.  And I find myself wanting to spread that instant over centuries, over millennia, wanting to space out these brief moments as long as they possibly can be because I know how few moments we can have, and I never, ever want to reach the last.  This beautiful creature - this woman who will one day have the power to spin me around myself and force a stone Dalek to plead for mercy, to plan the overthrow of the Silence, to face the Weeping Angels without fear - and all I can think of is one last, terrible moment in the Library. _  “Wherever I am is dangerous, River, but being only moderately close to me is the most dangerous thing in Creation.  You should stay away from me... as far from me as possible...”  _ If only that were possible, River... it would be better for you if we had never met.  If you’d been able to grow into Dr. River Song, archaeologist and teacher, rather than a ship tossed about by the Oncoming Storm. _  “Or close to me, where I can help keep you safe.”

“I suppose that I will stay close to you, then, Doctor.”  River pushed off the wall, sauntering toward the Doctor -  _She must have been born able to do that.  And it’s going to entirely undo me every time she does_ \- then leaning forward, placing a hand against the wall on each side of the Doctor’s head before pressing her lips very near indeed to the Doctor’s ear.  “As close as I can possibly get...”

“Yes... that would be...”   _I’m going to do this.  I shouldn’t.  I’m going to._ “Good.”  The Doctor met River’s eyes.  _ I want her.  As badly as I ever want Amy.  Differently.  But as badly, as strongly.  And I don’t think I can tell her no, any more than I could tell Amy no.  _ “Very good.”

Then they kissed.  The Doctor couldn’t be sure if she’d kissed River or if River had kissed her, but there wasn’t much time for reflecting on that.  That they were kissing, that they were stumbling toward bed, that their clothes were gone, that they were against each other... those were the only things that mattered.

\---------------------------------

“You keep looking at me as if you have something to tell me.”  River brushed her fingers through the Doctor’s short blonde hair, glorious in her nudity, nearly glowing.  “I think that it’s time you do so.”

“A... gift.”  The Doctor rolled over in the bed, drawing sounds of protest from River, but returned quickly with a small cardboard box dyed TARDIS blue.  River took it, opening it.

“A book!”  She held up the volume, grinning widely.  “I love books.  Though it feels a bit shoddy...”  She opened the book and blinked.  “It’s blank.  It looks like the TARDIS and it’s blank.”

“It’s a journal.  I have one as well... to write about our time together.  River... I can’t tell you much about what’s coming, but what I can say is this: I know you want to stay on the TARDIS.  I would love to keep you here, but something is going to happen - I don’t know what - and you won’t be able to follow me.  We’ll meet again, but... it’s all out of order.  We’ll reach times when you’ll remember clearly something that you experienced a week before, while I haven’t done it yet.  By keeping these journals, we will be able to keep track of what we’ve done.  But there are rules.”

“Rules?”  River’s lips curled in an expression of distaste.  “I don’t much like rules, Doctor.  Or how little touching you’re doing.”

“You can’t read my diary, and you can’t allow me to read yours.  And you can’t tell me what’s coming for me, no matter how much I want to know.  Breaking these two rules could destroy the universe... or worse.”

“What could be worse than destroying the universe?”  River’s expression shifted to become somber.

“It could destroy tonight, River... take this night, this experience, away from both of us.  Or a dozen other experiences neither of us will ever want to lose.  River... revealing what’s coming could steal away our entire memory of each other.  Every meeting we have ever had, or will ever have.”   _ Except part of us would remember.  We’re both time travellers... we would lose everything except the space in our hearts that what was lost was supposed to fill.  It would kill me.  It would probably kill you. _  “So I need you to swear, River.”

“I... I swear.”  River pressed her face to the Doctor’s slender neck.  “I swear.”

They lay there for a long moment before River whispered, “Will we ever find time to move together again?” 

 _I don’t know.  But I can’t even tell her that much._  “That would be a spoiler.”

\-------------------------------------

“Did you enjoy yourself with her, then? Have a good shag?” Amelia Pond leaned against the controls of the TARDIS, all soft red hair and long brown coat and the hint of the sharp black skirt riding up her thighs from the way she always sat on the edge of the panel like it was her own private territory. Her own place in the universe. Not Amy Pond, not the Girl Who Waited - not the seed of the storm but the blazing heart of it. She’s not there - not yet.  But the potential’s written in her face now, in the way she carries herself, and the bright flare of that potential is like drinking down a star. She’s going to be something like an equal, someday, and she already carries herself like one.

Then there’s the smirk on her face, the one she’s always had. The I-caught-you-and-I-know-it look.  _ Gotcha.  
_

“Since you must ask, yes, it was quite excellent.”  The Doctor twirled as she rushed up to the console, her hands dancing over the controls.  “Though I understand a lady doesn’t kiss and tell.”

“Bollocks. A lady kisses, shags, and tells plenty.” Amy slid out of the way of a questing hand, caught it, and pinned the little blonde bundle of energy against the control console with sharp, eager fingers. “Was it her first time this time, then?”

“It was.”  The Doctor’s hands ran over Amy’s shoulders, her eyes sparkling as she met the redhead’s gaze.  “Very first, I believe with anyone, though I didn’t ask.”

“Oh, bloody good, clever you - snagged her into your bed, beat out all those other yous. Give you something to gloat over next time we run into them, won’t it?” Amy leaned in and kissed her Doctor squarely, drank a long hot burst of fire from her lips and left her gasping. “Don’t think I can’t see how smug you are, Doctor.”

“And can’t I be smug?”  The Doctor drank the kiss in before claiming another.  “As good as it was, I can’t help but feel like I was getting a little revenge.  I’ve spent so long with her twirling me around on myself.”

“Getting a bit of your own back, then?” Amy smirked, cupped her Doctor’s face, then gave her a light bite of affection with a hint of something harder in it. “We need to talk, Doctor.” 

“We can talk.”  The Doctor brushed her nails along Amy’s neck.  “What do we need to talk about?”

“You, and being bloody stupid.” Amy reached up and pulled one of the displays around on its hanging frame, pulled a lever, and the old TARDIS surveillance view popped up like an obedient soldier. It wasn’t long, not really - a dozen minutes, if that - but it felt much, much longer. 

“Oh.”  The Doctor’s hands fell from Amy’s throat, and she leaned back against the console, suddenly looking impossibly old.  She closed her eyes, slumping, and breathed in deeply.  “That.”

“‘That.’” Amy’s hands dug into her shoulders almost painfully, thumbs forcing her head up so she could feel the weight of those green eyes on her closed lids. “I know you’ve done things, had moments, you’re not proud of. That hurt you. Now you know that I know at least one more of those moments. If you ever try to hide from me, Doctor, I’ll break both your arms; you’re so much better than ‘that.’”

The Doctor’s shoulders twitched backward at the strength of Amy’s fingers, and her eyes slowly opened.  “It was... my worst moment.  Worse than the end of the War... and it came because I was alone.  The rest of my people, gone.  My companions, my friends... gone.  I was alone, with nothing to remind me that I was not all-powerful.  So... I forgot.”

“But you remembered.” Amy’s voice was almost gentle now - still sharp, but with a patience to it that was nothing like pleading. “You tried to save someone you shouldn’t - still you, even if it was mad. Still my kind old Doctor.” 

“There’s nothing that reminds you of your own mortality like failure.”  The Doctor fell forward, her arms sliding around Amy tightly.  “That day was my worst, Amy.”

“Then I’ve seen you at your worst, haven’t I?” Amy lifted her head again, forced her to meet those green eyes, and there was no mistaking the bright clear fire of love in them. “And here I am, still holding you.”

“Amelia Pond.”  The Doctor pressed in close, her arms tightening around Amy fiercely.  “I love you, Amelia Pond.”

“‘Course you do. Aren’t I the best girl in all the universe?” Her smile flashed like fire, and then she was kissing her Doctor again - all sharp eagerness and bright sparks. “You take me out there and show me everything, Doctor, and we’ll never stop running.”

The Doctor’s sudden rush of joy blinded out everything else, every plan and every idea, and she was kissing Amy with the fierce, explosive passion of centuries.

By the time they were done having it on the TARDIS controls, it took a couple of hours to figure out when they’d gotten to. Neither of them cared.


	2. Chapter 2

“You know, I can’t seem to run into you without it being the end of the world, can I? River Song, worse than a bleeding raven of prophecy. Have you got it all sorted, then, or do I need to have a go?” The sweet Scottish voice behind River was almost idle with amusement - not exactly a tone you would expect a few feet from a Tenseri World Miner’s main control console, especially not one parked on a hyper-metropolis like Carvalis III. Especially not when it had just finished canceling a full-on nanobot-assisted strip mine of the planet.

“We’ve only met a couple of times... though it seems like every time you and the Doctor appear out of the sky, something terrible happens.”  River leaned against the TARDIS’s outer wall.  “I’ve been doing some reading, you know... since we last met.”

“Archeologist - that’s what you do, isn’t it? Read and dig stuff up, ‘specially the dangerous stuff that’ll blow up or try to eat you.” The well-built redhead in the long brown coat and deep black blouse gave her a slow, knowing smile. “Knew you must have done, since you didn’t go all goggly-eyed when you saw the Doctor in a skirt. Bit of a change, was it?”

“I... archaeologist?”  River blinked, pushing off the TARDIS to stand erect.  “I’m interested in the past, but... archaeologist?”  She paused.  “That’s... actually a really good idea.”

_One time loop, check._ “Course it is, luv - I thought of it.” Amy flashed her best charming smile, hands still tucked into her pockets. “Now, tell me about your reading.”

“The blue box... the TARDIS.  It shows up everywhere, in every time, on every world, somewhere.  Different people in it... young women of a dozen species.  And a man, or men.  All going by one name.  It shows up in the iconography of a thousand religions, ten thousand cultures.  A herald of disaster averted.”

“Good - good start. And?”  _Come on, River... you’re clever. Be clever for me again._

“It’s our Doctor.  Your Doctor.  Every one of them.”  River smiled.  “Every time.  I dug up something else... something buried in time, so deeply that it’s like it never happened.”

“Like a secret nobody shares, even if they know. Something everyone gets a fragment of, like an echo.” Amy’s smile widened slowly. “Spot on, Miss Song. Say the words.”

“Gallifrey.  Time Lord.”  River breathed the words softly.  “A race that once ruled the universe, through all of time and space, and now never existed at all... apart from the Doctor.”

“Exactly right. She’s the last, you see - the last daughter of Gallifrey, or the last son, however you want to say it.” Amy fought down a sad little sigh, reminding herself of exactly what those Time Lords had been like - and why they’d had to be wiped away clean. “The very last - old and kind and wise. Well, mostly wise.” Her lips quirked sharply, and she buried a little laugh in her throat.

“One of the Silurian patriarchs wrote at great length of the Doctor... he was called ‘the most foolish wise man in the galaxy.’  Acted the part of the fool, all the while doing exactly what must be done.”  River offered a soft smile to Amy.  “It’s a sentiment that often appears in well-documented appearances of the Doctor.”

“An entirely accurate one, I must say.” Amy’s lips quirked, that same knowing smile on her face again. “Of course, you have the first hand experience to judge by now. Three sets, in fact.”

“True.”  River blushed lightly.  “She’s... quite exceptional.”

“Fascinating. Lovely, too - all of her, all of him. Just lovely.” Amy breathed out a soft, sweet sigh. “A wonder, no mistake.”

“You... you love her.”  River’s blush deepened a bit.  “I shouldn’t have brought that up...”

Amy’s laugh was soft, warm and good-natured. “Of course I love her - who could do anything else? She’s marvelous. Nothing wrong with you agreeing with me, River Song. Nothing at all.”

“I mean... you and she are _ lovers _ .  Close.  Maybe even married.”

Amy just laughed softly, her eyes gleaming. “Spoilers, River. Spoilers. You’ll find all that out in due course.”

“I guess what I’m wondering is... well, she’s taken.  Isn’t she?”  River sank to sit on the ground next to the TARDIS.

Amy’s smile was as gentle as a spring rain, and she crouched down to reach out and touch River’s cheek softly. “She has two hearts - did you read that? Two hearts, beating together. Keeping her strong.”

“You can’t be suggesting... no.  That  _ can’t _ be what you’re suggesting.”  River looked into Amy’s eyes.  “I mean, yes, I would, but no...”

“I couldn’t suggest anything to you, River. It’s your life, after all. Your decision to make, about how you want to spend it.” Those infinitely knowing green eyes held hers, warm and fathomless. “All I can do is give you something to think about.”

“Thank you, Amy.  Thank you...”  River brushed her lips against Amy’s cheek.  “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, River. You’ll always be welcome.” Amy embraced her tightly for a moment, simply holding her tightly, then straightened with a smile. “Better say goodbye - we’ll be off soon, and no telling when or where you’ll see her again.”

“Of course.”  River pulled herself to her feet.  “I’ll go see her now.”

_Poor, sweet River Song. All the things I could tell you - all the sweet, wonderful, beautiful, terrible things. Just starting out again on that long, short run. Good luck, River. Good luck, darling girl._ Amelia Pond watched her go, hands tucked into the pockets of her long brown coat, and smiled a very old smile indeed. “Godspeed, River.”


End file.
